Breaker point assembly



July 14, 1942. v. w. THOMAS 2,290,078

BREAKER POINT ASSEMBLY Filed April 5, 1941 tion with a breaker ,Y inAFlg. 1 with the breaker moved;

Patentedllully 14, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Y 2,290,078 a BREAKER POINT ASSEMBLY Victor W. Thomas, Waukegan, Ill. ,Application April 5, 1,941, serial No. 386,9974

' `4 claims. (ci. 20o-3o) My present invention relates to the provision of a breaker point assembly for distributors for ignition systems for internal combustion en gines, meaning thereby the provision of a design for a structure including both breaker points and their respective mountings which may be manufactured, assembled and interadjusted completely in a factory so that such assembly may be associated with the breaker plate` of a distributor as a unit structure.

The breaker points are those parts of the primary circuit of an ignitionsystem which are opened to cause'jthe collapsing of the eld in the coil which generates the current or potential that causes the spark `necessary for the ignition of the fuel in the cylinder of the motor. Obviously questions of timing are involved and these parts must be capable of critical precision- Fig. 3 is ay plan of the breaker point assembly removed from the breaker plate;

Fig. 4 is a section, to an enlarged scale, along line 4-4 in Fig. 1 and Fig. 5 is asection, also to an along line` 5-5 in Fig.` 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar enlarged scale,

` parts lthroughout the several ilgure's.

operation. Heating, and not infrequently some degree of sparking, occurs which, sooner or later, causes their pitting which, together with displacement from other causes, disturbs the registry of, and contact between, the points and seriously affects the re sistance of the circuit and the eiiciency of its operation. The pivot for the arm carrying the movable breaker point receives the blow or impact from the rotor and the almost as quick action of the return spring on opposite sides which deform the pivot'and prevent a flt with a new replacement arm. The adjustment of the return spring is also critical as a weak tension will cause a lag in the functioning of the device and a too strong tension will result in a bouncing or vibration between the meeting points which will also affect contact and the resistance a of the circuit.

It has been my object to provide a structure which may be assembled with a breaker plate, either originally or as a replacement, without the necessity of any adjustment between the and, of course, it has also been my object to save the exercise of the skill and knowledge l of the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a plan of a breaker plate in associapoint assembly embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan of the breaker plate shown point assembly reat the breaker points' lpoints themselves or the points and the plate 'which extends below the bracket I2 the bracket .ing 24'in the other end of trudes through the central opening in the breaker plate. I provide in the breaker plate a circular aperture Il, as shown in Fig. 2. My breaker plate is similar to the conventional .form of breaker plate, heretofore referred to, except that instead of the aperture Il the conventional breaker plate is xedly provided with a pin upon which swings thearm carrying the movable breaker point.

I provide a bracket l2 having at one end an extension I3, at right angles to the plane of the bracket, carrying the iixed' or stationary breaker point I ll. At the other end the bracket I2 is perforated, and in the perforation is xedly mounted a stud or post, the lower end I5 or and into the aperture II in the breaker plate for the purpose .of partially orienting or` locating the breaker point assembly with the breaker plate. The other locating means comprises an elongated aperture I6 cooperating with the eccentric I'I, as most clearly seen in Fig. 4. As will be seen by reference to Fig. 1, the rotation of the eccentric I1 will advance toward or withdraw from the rotor the striker block hereafter to be described. The bracket is secured in desired position by means of -a machine screw I8 passing through an additional aperture I9 in the bracket I2 and screwing into the breaker plate as shown in Fig. 4. The stud or post is enl'arged at,Y 2l) to contact the upper surface of I2, and above the enlargement 2u the'stud or post is reduced to provide a pintle 2| for the arm carrying the movable breaker point. Adjacentthe top the pintle is circumferentially grooved to receive a split washer 22 for holding the arm in assembly with its pintle.

The arm which carries the movable breaker point 23 in one end comprises a formed stampwhich is mounted an electrically insulating bushing 25 and an end of the return spring 26. About midway of the point is not also movable arm and the length of the arm 24 is secured an electrically insulating breaker block 21.

In the conventional structure the end of the return spring is anchored to a projection arising from the breaker plate, but in my assembly I form a projection .28 from the edge of the bracket l2 which extends at right angles to the plane thereof. This Iprojectionl is bored and within the bore is mounted an insulating bushing 29, through which passes a nut 30 for securing the end of the returning spring 26 and a pair of metal washers 3l-3l between which washers may be secured the end .of the conductor (not shown) of the primary circuit of the ignition system.

It may be argued that with the former arrangement it was only necessary to replace the A movable breaker point and the arm upon which it was mounted whereas with my assembly both breaker points and their respective mountings are replaced. With my structure, however, the parts are assembled 'under factory conditions with the advantage of close inspection and there can be no vquestion of the rit of a new arm with a Worn pivot or the adjustment of the tension of the return spring. The cost of experienced, skilled labor at the repair shop' is much greater than the entire replacement. Moreover, it hardly ever occurs that when the movable breaker point is pitted or otherwise damaged to an extent needing replacement that the xed breaker damaged to some extent. Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. A breaker point assembly in combination with a breaker plate having a perforation therein for the location of said assembly, a fixed breaker point and a bracket upon which said point is mounted, a stud fixedly mounted in said bracketand extending on opposite sides thereof to enter the perforation in said breaker plate and to form a pintle for the movable breaker point arm, means for swinging and xing the movable end of said bracket nearer to and farther from the center of said breaker plate, a projection produced from the edge of said bracket for anchoring an end of the spring for returning the breaker point carried thereby to contact with the xed breaker point, an arm mounted upon said pivot, a breaker point carried by said arm a striker block secured to said arm and a return spring fixed to said arm and extended and secured lto the said anchoring projection from said bracketfr 2. A nbreaker point assembly comprising a mounted upon said arm,

bracket having' an elongated and a round perforation therein and a pair of developments extending at right angles to the plane and from one end and a side thereof, a stud xed in and extending from opposite faces of said bracket to provide respectively locating projection therefor and a pintle, a breaker point mounted on the development at the end of said bracket, an arm, an insulating bushing mounted in one end thereof cooperating with said pintle, a breaker point mounted in the other end of said arm to register with vsaid other breaker point,xa striker block secured to said arm, a return spring mounted upon said arm adjacent-the location of said insulating bushing, the extending end of said spring insulated from and anchored to the development extending from the side of said bracket, and means cooperating with said elongated and round perforations to adjust and x said assembly radially with respect to the point of location fixed by said locating projection.

3; A breaker point assembly comprising a bracket having adjacent one end and on one side developments extending at right angles to the plane of Said bracket, a breaker point mounted upon the development adjacent one end, a post or stud mounted upon the` other end of said bracket and extending on opposite sides thereof, mountedupon an extending part of said post or stud as a pivot, an arm electrically insulated from said bracket, a breaker point carried by saidarm, a spring xedly secured to and extending from the pivoted end of said arm and meansfor securing the opposite end of said spring to and electrically insulating it from the development arising from a side of said bracket.

4. A breaker point assembly comprising a l bracket having developments extending at right angles to the general point mounted. upon one of lsaid developments, means for anchoring a spring to and insulating it from said other development, a stud xedly secured to said bracket and extending upon opposite sides thereof, an arm, a contact point an insulating bushing carried by said arm and receiving the portion of said 'stud projecting from the side of said bracket as a pintle, a spring carried by said arm the other end of which is engaged by said anchoring means, the end of said stud projecting from the face of said bracket opposite said arm being'adapted to cooperate with an aperture in a breaker plate'for assisting in locating said bracket therewith.

` VICTOR W. THOMAS.

plane thereof, a contact 

